motivated

This cooler weather has certainly been delightful for helping to inspire me to cook more interesting meals. Whole Foods recently had a Prime Member special of Arctic Char, a new variety of fish that my husband and I tried for the first time.
 
Arctic Char, part of the fish family called Salmonidae, is a cold water fish found in alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Arctic Char is lighter and milder in taste than salmon.  A web search lead me to the website www.food52.com for a recipe called broiled lemon-honey Arctic Char with citrus sauce. The recipe for the sauce recommenced using a mix of citrus, I only had lemons and orange juice on hand. The recipe suggested a blend of citrus such as tangerines, navel oranges, Cara Cara oranges, nectarines or blood oranges. The recipe has a prep time of 30 minutes and only five minutes of cooking (the fish is cooked under the broiler). Besides the citrus, you’ll need honey, olive oil, fresh minced chives, a neutral oil and flaky sea salt.

The fish came out moist and flavorful. My husband and I liked the citrus sauce which gave the fish a fresh, light taste. I must admit, my husband prefers cod over most varieties of fish, but he did like this preparation.
 
Side note-His preference for cod will be met this coming week as Whole Foods has fresh sustainable, Wild-Caught Atlantic cod fillets on Prime Member special for $8.99/lb. This special goes until Tuesday, October 15th.
 
Another item that caught my eye was on The New York Times cooking app (NYTcooking) that recently featured zucchini muffins with cinnamon crunch topping. I found the recipe interesting as it used a combination of butter and applesauce, which cuts some of the fat and calories. A combination of honey and sugar for sweetness. The recipe also needs whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, salt, milk eggs, lemon juice, vanilla extract and cinnamon. The recipe has a total time of 45 minutes for prep and baking. Although the recipe says the yield is a dozen muffins, I was able to make 18 even though I filled my muffin cups 3/4 full.
 
Oh my goodness, these muffins are fabulous! Although dense, they were moist, but had a nice crunchy top after baking. The combination of grated zucchini with applesauce was divine. I had to put the muffins in my basement refrigerator so that I wouldn’t tempt me to snack on them. My husband loved them too! I brought some to my daughter’s house for her to try. She enjoys cooking and baking, but seeks out healthy alternatives as she has a toddler in the house. My granddaughter gave one a try and seemed to like it, especially the topping.
 
I posted a photo of the muffins that I baked on my Facebook page, and the response was quite surprising as to how many viewers requested the recipe. I hope they enjoy it as much as my husband and I. I did keep several at my house to enjoy over the weekend.